PREVIEW: Dundee @ Guildford
The Kitmart Dundee Stars are aiming to take both points in Surrey tonight after their comeback effort came-up short in a shootout on Saturday night in Nottingham.
Picture: John Uwins
Last night, the Stars lost 5-4 to Nottingham Panthers after penalty shots but made an outstanding comeback after falling heavily behind early on.
Omar Pacha's side were 3-0 down inside eight minutes but goals from Matt Marquardt and Colton Kroeker (Shorthanded) cut the deficit to one before the first break.
A late second period goal by Jagger Dirk tied the game at 3-3 but in third period the Panthers re-took the lead with five minutes to play.
However, a powerplay for Dundee with less than four minutes to go allowed Kevin Dufour to tie the game once more.
In overtime both goaltenders continued to make key saves before the Stars let a one-goal lead in the shootout slide and three straight conversions from Nottingham meant they took the win and extra point.
Now, Dundee are looking to continue their spirited performance against Guildford Flames as they aim to pack-up two more points and bring a total of three back to Tayside.
This will be the Stars third match of the season with Guildford and after a double header with Paul Dixons' men back in September both teams came away with a win each.
At home, Dundee doused the Flames but were burnt by the backdraft on the road.
Guildford currently sit fifth in the league standings, just 11 points ahead of the Stars but they have struggled for consistency in their recent performances, as they have picked up only a single victory in their last six games.
A 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester Storm on Thursday was followed up by a 6-2 loss at Sheffield Steelers on Saturday.
Ian Watters and Jamie Crooks scored the Flames two goals in last night's defeat but the squad was at full strength with spare goaltender, Wouter Peeters the only player sitting out.
Meanwhile, Dundee are still just one player short of a full roster as Kris Inglis continue his recovery form an upper body injury.
Looking ahead to tonight's clash with the Flames, Stars boss, Pacha added: "It is a funny one, the first time we went down to Nottingham, the game was 2-2 and the puck hits a referee and goes back into our zone for them to score.
"But in the other game I thought Nottingham played a really solid home game and we made some critical mistakes.
"So, we have to limit our mistakes all weekend against two very good teams."
Discussing the Flames, he added: "Our squad has changed since we last saw Guildford and they have had a few months now of playing together.
"It will be an interesting match-up because we have to play them four more times this season, so it is going to be a big test on Sunday but right now our attention is fully on Saturday in Nottingham."
Speaking after last night's shootout defeat, Stars forward, Craig Garrigan said: "Despite having a bad start to the game, the boys are happy to come out with a point.
"Coming back from 3-0 down just shows the great character we have and the fight we have throughout the team.
"Coming out with a point away to Nottingham will help motivate the team for tomorrow's game against Guildford.
"We can finish the weekend with three out of four points, so that's huge for our playoff push."
Talking about his side's chances tonight, Craig added: "Guildford are a highly offensive team with a lot of skill, we just need to limit our mistakes and play solid defensively then the offence will come.
"If we use our speed to our advantages and play within our systems, we will have a great chance to come out with the two points."
Face-off time for this Sunday's match in Guildford is at 6pm.